Bulgarian and Romanian Immigration Control
Controlled Access to UK Labour Market for New AccessionCountries
Home Office Press Release
25 October 2006
The UK's labour market will be opened gradually to citizens of
Bulgaria and Romania after the two countries join the European
Union in January 2007, Home Office Minister Liam Byrne announced
today. The UK has decided to limit access to its labour market
following the European Commission's recommendation to permit
Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU on 1 January 2007. From that
date Romanians and Bulgarians will have the right to travel
throughout the EU. In the UK low-skilled workers from Romania
and Bulgaria will be restricted to existing quota schemes to fill
vacancies in the agricultural and food processing sectors. There
will be no net increase in these existing schemes and workers
will be required to have an authorisation document.